Recent events have prompted me to recount the remarkable tale of the rise to power of the 16th republic. Not since the glory days of the long lost 6th had an empire spanned the stars from one end of the galaxy to the other. Indeed that former magnificence had become lost to time immemorial long before our story takes place. The legend of the final banishment of the evil race of the Shakturi which took place at that time was no longer remembered except here and there by a few fanatically devoted historians, and perhaps also by the odd berated child quivering under their bedclothes. I however knew, beyond doubt, of the reality of those stories. Perhaps I will tell you about it later. Of greater immediate concern to us, however, is of the time of the 16th republic, the rise of the...

Although the formal beginning of the Republic did not take place until several weeks later its true beginning was surely on the eve of the new galactic rotation, some 2754 rotations after an event best left unmentioned. Although we will never be quite certain of the precise details it is clear that Than Bendu, long term advisor to the previous regime, was out with his younger, and some say better looking brother, although personally I can't tell them apart... but I digress. The Bendu brothers were not happy with their lot and although Esari was as yet little known to the general public, to Esari Mankara and Yuri Xanaria - heads of internal and external intelligence, although no-one other than perhaps themselves was ever quite sure of who was head of what - he presented a suave and logical countenance. The prospects of increased funding for their activities would also not have been lost on the mirror mages.

It was never clear what happened to Than Kesky. One day he was there and next he was not. Some say he met a fate most foul but most believe that he was encouraged to take a permanent vacation and spent his days dreaming about what might have been. The truth is that no-one really cares.

The man of the moment Esari Bendu was greeted with thorough going joy and abundant happiness throughout the population of Uhavart. The paperwork of his ascension was not completed until the beginning of the 3rd hour of the galactic rotation but it was clear to all concerned that he, and his long suffering brother, had been pulling the strings for some considerable time prior to this.

He, above all people, had realised the potential of this moment, and the luck with which they had been blessed. The abundance and diversity of natural resources in the immediate surroundings was absolutely remarkable. His apprehension of incredible good fortune only deepened when he saw the reports from his dual intelligence heads - not only was there a world within the newly explored Fumus system which was almost perfectly suited to colonisation but there existed another in the nearby Sreloor system, a star close enough to almost be considered a binary, that was almost as good.

The fearsome foursome, as contemporary accounts style them (although this description quickly disappears from later reports) had already been hard at work. They had started by overhauling the decadent and overly bedecked spaceport. Paring back its excesses and retuning it to become a productive and vibrant shipyard. Work had also begun on a large ark to carry the criminals, rebels and other malcontents offworld so that through their desperate efforts to survive they could expand the power and might of the incipient empire. The first batch of long range explorers were already half finished in the reforming spaceport including a prototype of the newly envisaged cosmic surveyors. But the first ship to be commissioned would be the marine mothership Esari had long orchestrated in a far flung vision of the shape of things to come.

Although officially sharing the duties of state it gradually became apparent to the others that Esari Bendu had already manifested his design to become first among equals. It was a design that after being impressed upon his peers would seek larger targets. And that, my friends, is our story.

That was how his intelligence agents had described it. And they were pretty much correct. But that was not how Esari thought of it. And I should know. For oll his redeeming qualities the little twit could not but help see himself as an unmoved mover. But in this case he actually was responsible for the small portion that was not luck.

It was on his insistence that the ragtag hulks which passed for a fleet at that time were grouped together into one fighting force. It was also on his order that they hid themselves in the haze of the sun (although you may rightly wonder where he got such a clever idea...). Most everyone thought this nonsense but they were prepared, in those early heady days, to humour a good-natured but somewhat foolish soul. Ha, as if he was ever either!

As it was when the Raven Junction Outlaws materialised on the edge of the Furmus system they got the surprise of their soon to be ended lives. First one escort and then the other succumbed to the combined fire of our first fleet. Yep, that's the imaginative, innovative and inspiring name that he gave them, the first fleet. Okay so the young bastard was smart enough to take counsel at that point. And very good counsel it was too.

Inspired by some unnamed source, although you can probably already guess who it was, Esari traced a line out in the direction from which the ships had appeared. Well, actually the second ship, if truth be told, which it very rarely is. We had been forewarned by then, and at least some of us were already looking for the origin of the attacks. Damn, I've given it all away, haven't I?

So anyway, as soon as the second escort was a flaming ball of wreckage... you know, that great fire and kaboom which always happens in a near vacuum... the order went out to jump for the nearest star along the incoming line of flight. Afterwards the order was attributed to Esari, but in fact at the time it was not clear where it had come from or who had given it since the great man was cowering in a bunker shielded from all communications in Uhavart Central District. I dare say all will be revealed in due time.

Well it was a crafty ploy because a couple of portions of a galactic hour later the fleet arrived in the Raven Junction system. And lo and behold there was a starbase lovingly decorated with a skull and cross bones in black and white. We were in the right place! A bit of blim blam later and the gas giant was shaking under the explosion. Bye bye you bad boys and girls.

A datacore in the wreckage? Ha. That's a new one. If you were there you would know that their main cyberbanks were hacked during the battle. And don't you dare call me unreliable. It happened it really did...

It was Shevek Ansible who took the message. I remember it as distinctly as a seal in this wax. He came running in like a cute little pup as yet not bitten by a mangy mongrel. Though how they got carrier waves to break not only the laws of space but also of hyperspace is clearly beyond your ken so I won't bother to try and explain

"They have found the coordinates for a lost ship, sir," he said. He looked a bit on the pale side.

Okay, he wasn't talking to me, I've never been a sir, even to myself. Even if he wasn't drooling he did look a lot like a puppy. And damn me if he wasn't right to be excited. A lost ship could mean the difference, all the difference between a rise and a meteoric rise.

"And?" The captain of the scoutship was a real man of words.

"Th-they w-want us to investigate."

I'd like to say that the captain muttered something but he didn't. He just made a sound: to call it a grunt would be to give it too much dignity. As if he had been the pilot ordered to drop a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki - 'Message received, over and out', followed by a pre-emptive radio silence. Well, been there, done that.

Actually the captain, and Shevek, did a real fine job of locating the ship. It wasn't easy because it was 'hiding' just out of orbit of an independent colony. Yep, that's right, real live outerspace... humans. Aw shucks, I thought it was going to be something exciting. Those ancient aliens seem to revel in losing their ships right where any decent independent would gobble them up without thinking, except they don't do either. And, wait for it, there's more to come, also just coming out of hyper at Cautu were a brace of honest to God, except they weren't and I'm not, pirate gangsters.

So the captain makes like a hyena and sneeks in around the back of the lost ship with the pirates hot on his heels and...

Wow. Lucky the pirates think that these things are just part of the scenery. And pretty soon they, or their pieces, are too.

Now the captain he was already out of there. Good for him. I'd stuck around and got to see a pirate frigate materialising out of the void. I say frigate, but man, I've seen destroyers which would get eaten by this thing. Not the Quaestor though. They did try to jump outsystem but someone sabotaged their drive coil software. Should have been given a medal, if you ask me, but instead they just go down in history as another faceless hero. Unless you're a pirate, that is.

Whatever you do, don't ask me about the crew of the lost ship... They only made one journey anyway, since apparently our scientists had run out of mice to dissect. Probably good in a way as I can't imagine how many rodents you would have to dissect to learn Enhanced Hyperdrives.

And yes, I do know the one about the Teekan, the Zenox and the Ugnari.